I feel sooo lazy nowadays…lazy to do anything..May be its the effect of the monsoons 🙂 I like to curl up in my favourite couch, watching my favourite TV shows or reading a book..but cant do this all the time especially with my small kids running around in the house..So I try my maximum to cook something easy and less time consuming…So I just went through the pages of Mrs K.M Mathew’s Cook book and this recipe caught my eye.It was soo easy to make,the only thing is it has to be marinated 2 hours in advance..but just reading the recipe made my mouth water..So I tried it out and it came out soo perfect.Perfect to have when the sun peeps out from behind the clouds after a heavy shower.. 🙂

Did I tell you…?I always like the gentle rays of sunshine that comes after a heavy outpour..just like God reminding us that there sure are rays of good hope to follow after the tiny little sad things in our life..Dont you think so!! 🙂 Well I just drifted away from the food talk…Thats me… 🙂

Chicken 65…now thats pretty funny..why is it called chicken 65?ever wondered that?..well sources claim Chicken 65 as a dish introduced at the famous Buhari restaurant in Anna Salai ,Chennai in 1965…So the name Chicken 65 and the dish was a very popular hit among thousands..They even offered Chicken78, Chicken 82,Chicken 90…You guessed right!,introduced in 1978,1982 and 1990 🙂

Other tales on the name says that the dish is said to require 65 days to prepare the marinade, but this is unlikely for reasons of freshness and flavour..Still another tale says that the dish emerged as a simple meal solution for Indian soldiers in 1965 !! The name is also claimed to relate to a requirement for the meat to be from 65-day-old chickens 🙂 What I can say is that what ever the tale may be..this chicken 65 sure is a delicious dish that leaves us craving for more and more in each bite!!Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast,cut into small pieces(Cubes) -1/2kg

Kashmiri Chilli powder – 3tsp

Cumin seeds – 1/2tsp.

Black pepper (crushed) – 1/2 tsp.

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste – 2tsp

Rice flour or Corn Flour – 2tsp

Curry leaves – a handfull

Oil for deep frying

Thick Plain Yoghurt – 1/4 cup.

Vinegar – 1tsp(To be used if the yoghurt is not sour)

Method:

In a bowl,combine yoghurt with chillipowder,Coriander powder,Turmeric powder,Crushed Black powder,Ginger Garlic paste,Cumin seeds,Rice/Corn Flour and salt.Add vinegar only if the yoghurt is not sour.

Add the chicken pieces to this and mix and coat well.

Refrigerate this for 2 hours so that masala penetrates deeply into the chicken.You can even keep it for overnight..

After the said time,heat oil in a pan for deep frying.

Once the oil is hot,lower the flame and gently add the chicken pieces carefully,one at a time and fry,turning once in a while,alternating the flame from low to high,till the outer covering turns a golden colour and the chicken gets cooked well.

Drain excess oil off the fried pieces on a paper towel.

Add the curry leaves into the oil,when you are frying up the last batch and let it turn crisp.

Transfer to a serving plate with fresh lemon wedges and Sliced onions and Enjoy!!!

Notes:

It’s important to fry the chicken in low heat otherwise the outside be golden brown while the inside remains raw.

If the yogurt is not sour and you don’t have vinegar , justadd a few drops of lemon juice to the marinade.Does the trick!

If you don’t have cornflour, use rice flour to make the chicken pieces crispy.

You can add red food colour to get the colour of the chicken 65 ,you get in restaurants 🙂